The Observer, the Observed, and the Omega The Story of Galen of Taa
by Mtheumer
Summary: The death of a universe gives birth to one of the most fearsome beings of the Marvel Universe!


THE OBSERVER, THE OBSERVED, AND THE OMEGA

THE STORY OF GALAN OF TAA

Our civilization had reached every corner of the universe, not just what was once known as the "observable universe", but the entire universe itself. We had an intricate communications network that utilized the massive black holes at the center of galaxies to allow people and data to travel instantly, anywhere in the universe. Knowledge was our currency and wisdom valued above all else. Minds that could sync with each other allowed thoughts to be passed from person to person with a clarity never known before. When astro-archeologists discovered the great "Seed", we felt the time had come for us to gather our power and knowledge to try to see what lie beyond the cloud of microwave radiation that marked the boundary of our universe. The "Seed" was a free-roaming proton-neutron pair that was at the core of the creation of our universe. This single nucleus formed at the exact center of creation as all other matter raced away to form the night sky we know today. In our arrogance, we thought that the universe had nothing more to teach us and that new knowledge would be gained in the theoretical "Multiverse". Attempts had been made in the past to see the multiverse using stable artificial black holes, but these merely created pocket universes which quickly and violently collapsed. It was I, Galan of Taa, who had first suggested the great Mesh. The Mesh would use our existing communications network and our mind-sync abilities to merge every consciousness in the universe into a single thinking entity. Many of us had already moved to an existential state as pure consciousness, but all of the lower life forms still existed as physical beings. The key to the Mesh was to incorporate every being capable of sensing the outside world, from microbes to mega-sapiens into a single mind, a single eye, a single soul.

The creation of the Mesh went quickly and the day came when a single black box would sit before me with a single red button. In the flag ship of our research team, orbiting the core of galaxy M4328, I wait for the unceremonious indication that all is in readiness. That indication came in the form of a green indicator point that appeared before my eyes. I took a deep breath and pressed the button! The space around me began to melt away as my senses began to expand beyond the confines of my body, then the ship, and then the galaxy. There was a feeling of ultimate comfort as I felt the minds of every living thing in all of creation expand along with my own until... I/we found my/our self in a room with no walls or ceiling or floor. There was blinding white light that washed over me/us that seem to emanate from everywhere. Before me/us was a single door with swirling colors and patterns beyond even my/our description and in the door way stood a single humanoid figure. The figure was black and had no features other than being composed of what looked like stars and galaxies. I/we concentrated on the figure and my/our consciousness began to approach the figure. Upon reaching what was a few meters from the figure, waves of pure energy began to buffet me/us until I/we began to concentrate again and realized that I/we were experiencing pure time! I/we saw the explosion that created the universe, the pressing of the button and all points of time in between. It was not until the wave had ceased, that I/we felt something that no sentient being had ever felt for millennia...fear! What I/we saw was the dying of this universe as all nuclear reaction ground to a halt. Even the black holes that fueled our mighty information network had given off their last electron of radiation and evaporated, leaving emptiness so black it crushed my/our soul. I/we recoiled from the figure and began to concentrate again, this time what could be called my/our hand reached out to the figure, as it reached out to us. Was this God? I/we did not know, but what I/we did know was that it must not end as I/we have seen! Upon making contact with the figure, the white room turned to black, the door had vanished, and behind us in letters the size of galaxies was the word CHANGE and behind the figure was the word NO. Instantly my/our mind began to splinter and shrink and before I knew it, I was back aboard the starship orbiting galaxy M4328. The box was gone and in its place was minute spike of radiation that in theory would remain for years to come in that very spot.

The experience of the Mesh had brought a clarity that even we had never thought possible. It wasn't until ten years after, that we began to understand what had happened and what affects the Mesh had on the universe itself. Reports began coming in from all parts of the universe. The reports of an increase in the temperature of the microwave background radiation had been ignored at first, as even in our era, mistakes occurred, but the reports kept coming until it was confirmed. The universe was getting warmer, collapsing in on itself! Our fear of a cold dead universe had triggered the opposite, the beginning of entropy. Our fear had not only triggered the collapse, but accelerated it. Instead of billions of years, our existence would be measured in decades! Panic spread quickly to all life in the universe, a sense of regret permeated the very blackness of space itself. It was not long before all began to look to me for some form of solution. I had created the Mesh, so it was I who was ultimately responsible for what had come about. It was not until a restless night that I had come up with the answer. Before learning to stabilize black holes to create worm-hole corridors of enough mass to allow solid objects to pass, people would send their consciousness to the other side of a pathway. In this form, they could communicate and gain knowledge that would be incorporated into their brain when they returned. The practice was ended when more stable pathways were introduced, ushering in intergalactic travel. If it worked on a galactic scale why not a universal one?

The word went forth, that all life would be converted to energy and transferred to a new black box aboard the newly christened starship, Taa. The starship was composed of the planet Taa and formed a sphere around our star. I was designated the captain and arbiter of this massive vessel, as well as the keeper of the sum total of all consciousness everywhere. Before I knew it, I became the only living being in the entire universe piloting a starship toward the "Seed" with the now fiery veil of quantum radiation approaching from all directions. I had one chance to reach the seed, create a stable black hole, and deposit the mind of my people in it before entropy destroyed all we had created. Time was short and upon reaching the seed, I created a weak field of stable space/time to prevent the incredible heat and radiation from effecting the formation of the singularity. Monitors indicated that the background radiation was only minutes from hitting the field and approaching at thousands of times the speed of light. The seconds ticked as the singularity began to form outside the ship. I was pumping negative energy and matter into it equal to the power of a main sequence star every second until...

The wave hit the field with the force of billions of supernovas! The hull of Taa, still ten light years from the wave front and constructed of the densest metal in the universe, began to melt as all the bridge monitors when white from the radiation. I knew I only had seconds left before the end, so I installed the black box into the transmitter system and set the computer to begin the transfer the instant the singularity had formed. I sat in my chair and meditated on my life and my experience in the Mesh when the alarm indicators began to flash indicating the stability field had failed before the singularity could stabilize. Now death was on its way at warp speed and I, who created a way to reach out and touch the Hand of God, would now bear witness to his death.

To be continued...


End file.
